Chapter 507: The Clash of Hard Qigong Martial Artists

On the day of the Top Ten Tournament, the sky over Tianqi City was covered in a thin layer of mist. The Great Drill Ground was buzzing with noise, more intense than the previous two rounds.

The banners of each team were hung on the southern spectator stands, and the gambling den clerks ran back and forth along the sidelines holding newly written odds boards, their voices hoarse from shouting.

Cheng Feng and his team arrived early as usual. The people from the Copper Armor Sect were already waiting in the holding area opposite them.

Tong Shan was bare-chested, his copper-colored skin gleaming with a dark yellow luster in the morning mist, like an old bronze statue dug up from underground.

The four fellow disciples beside him were each as sturdy as small iron towers, their bodies shimmering with a copper hue, standing there like a thick, solid wall.

"True Qi Realm, skin of copper." Huo Luan tapped with his saber hilt. "Cheng Feng, are you confident?"

"No." Cheng Feng tightened his wrist guards and flexed his fingers. "But I can fight."

"Remember," Liu Yu said in a low voice, "he is in the True Qi Realm; be careful of his close-quarters attack range. Entangle him, circle him, bait him into throwing punches. Every punch he misses drains a portion of his True Qi."

Cheng Feng nodded: "I understand."

The drums sounded, the referee called the names, and both teams stepped onto the platform.

As soon as Tong Shan stepped onto the platform, the entire Battle Platform seemed to sink slightly.

The way he looked at Cheng Feng was no longer as indifferent as before, but carried the excitement of a hunter seeing one of his own kind.

He smashed his fists together with a *bang*, the bronze sound ringing out clearly: "Kid, I heard you killed Suo Jiao. Good. I've wanted to fight him for a long time, but never got the chance. Since you killed him, then you can take his place and endure my fists."

Cheng Feng held his Steel Saber horizontally before his chest, his voice low: "Come and fight."

Today's tactics—defense was already useless,

because the entire opposing team consisted of Hard Qigong Martial Artists; it could only be a fight of real blades and real guns!!!

"Begin!" the referee shouted.

Tong Shan was the first to charge out. With one step, he shattered the bluestone, his entire body like a copper shell, crashing straight toward Cheng Feng.

Cheng Feng tapped his right foot and slid off to the side, his movements light and nimble.

Tong Shan's punch missed, landing on the stone surface behind Cheng Feng and blasting out a shallow pit. Stone chips flew everywhere, and a gasp went up from the stands.

Cheng Feng did not trade blows with him, instead using his footwork to circle behind Tong Shan, his Steel Saber as fast as a snake's tongue, slashing toward Tong Shan's left flank.

The saber edge struck with force, yet it was like cutting into extremely hard copper skin, emitting a *tseng* sound and kicking up a trail of sparks.

Tong Shan countered with an elbow strike; Cheng Feng raised his arm to block, and was sent sliding back three steps, his boot heels grinding until they were scorching hot.

"A fast blade. But it only broke a layer of surface skin." Tong Shan gave a ferocious grin and turned to charge again. This time he didn't use a single fist, but spread his arms wide, closing in on Cheng Feng like two bronze doors.

Cheng Feng ducked low, slipped under his armpit, and backhanded a slash at Tong Shan's lower back.

The blade edge left a white mark.

"He really is an iron block," Cheng Feng muttered, his feet not stopping as he circled to the front left again.

Tong Shan threw over a dozen punches in a row, each one carrying copper-colored True Qi, yet not a single one landed solidly.

Cheng Feng was very confident in his Tafeng Step.

"Damn it, are you even a man? All you know is how to hide?"

Tong Shan grew more agitated the longer they fought, his steps becoming larger, like a wild bull stung by mosquitoes, beginning to charge recklessly across the Battle Platform.

His four fellow disciples tried to move up to surround Cheng Feng, but were intercepted from both sides by Liu Yu and Huo Luan, unable to break free for the moment.

Even if Liu Yu was injured, he was still a True Qi Realm Martial Artist.

Not everyone could fight across ranks; for any faction to have one or two geniuses was truly a blessing from the heavens.

Liu Yu maneuvering for a while was naturally no problem.

Besides, he had teammates.

Gu Niangzi roamed the outermost edge, her hands flicking repeatedly, several ox-hair-thin needles shooting out from tricky angles, specifically targeting the areas behind the ears, under the armpits, and the back of the knees of the Copper Armor Sect members.

Those men practiced Hard Qigong and were thick-skinned, so the thin needles couldn't pierce deep, but they were enough to make them feel annoyed and distracted.

The formation was being pulled further and further apart.

Only Wang Ji stood at the very back, guarding the formation.

"Withdraw!" Wang Ji reminded in a low voice from the corner.

Everyone understood, blocking outward and leaving Tong Shan and Cheng Feng isolated and exposed.

The Copper Armor Sect disciples were on the outside,

Liu Yu, Huo Luan, and Gu Niangzi were in the middle,

Cheng Feng and Tong Shan were on the inside,

And Wang Ji was at the very back.

"Zhou Yanran, are you going to make your move?"

When Tong Shan came to his senses, there was no one left behind him.

His expression changed slightly, and just as he was about to retreat, Cheng Feng had already closed in from the left, slashing his saber diagonally at Tong Shan's knee.

Cheng Feng used eighty percent of his strength for this strike, the blade light stretching into a silver thread as it cut into the thinnest layer of copper skin at the back of Tong Shan's leg, and blood immediately appeared.

Tong Shan's leg went soft, and he dropped to one knee.

He let out a roar and backhanded a palm toward the top of Cheng Feng's head.

Cheng Feng had already calculated this; he bent his body backward, and the palm strike grazed past his face, the palm wind like a copper wave, making his skin sting.

Tong Shan wiped his mouth, the copper-colored True Qi on his body flickering, already unable to hold on much longer.

He stared at Cheng Feng, his eyes like an old bear cornered: "You bastard can really run."

"Being able to run is also a skill." Cheng Feng held his shield horizontally, his saber tip pointing at the ground, "Still want to fight?"

Tong Shan let out a great roar, using his last bit of strength to throw both fists at Cheng Feng. This strike was heavier than any before it; where the fist wind passed, even the hemp ropes at the edge of the platform were whipped up with a *whoosh*.

Cheng Feng dodged repeatedly, and at the same time,

"Quick, go, support the Senior Brother!"

The four members of the Copper Armor Sect all had skin of copper and bones of iron; ordinary swords and sabers left only white marks on their bodies.

Huo Luan's Steel Saber clashed over a dozen times, shaking the web of his hand until it went numb, yet the opponent only lost a bit of surface skin.

Liu Yu's Narrow Saber was fast, but in the eyes of the Copper Armor Gate members, a fast blade is like the wind, and wind does not break the trees it blows against.

Gu Niangzi's Gu insects were of no great use either; whether it was the Black Bee or the fine needles, neither could drill into that layer of copper armor.

The team was being forced outward bit by bit by the Copper Armor Gate's Iron Wall Formation, becoming thinner and more scattered the more they fought.

Cheng Feng had originally been circling the perimeter, constantly using his movement technique and fast blade to slash at the soft joints of Tong Shan.

But Tong Shan was no fool; after taking a few slashes, he abandoned his reckless advance, pulled his arms in, and like a moving copper wall, pressed in to shrink Cheng Feng's room to maneuver bit by bit.

The center of the Battle Platform was empty, with no room to dodge, and this was the moment Tong Shan had been waiting for.

"Run! Why aren't you running anymore?" Tong Shan sneered, raising his fists above his head and smashing them down toward Cheng Feng's face with a boom.

Cheng Feng turned sideways, barely avoiding the left fist, but the right fist had already reached his chest.

He raised his arm to take it head-on; with a bang, he slid back five or six steps, only stopping when his shoulder blades hit the hemp rope at the edge of the platform.

This blow was taken entirely with his physical body; a red welt as thick as a copper coin rose on his forearm, turning blue in an instant.

"Damn, he's tough." Tong Shan was also stunned for a moment. With these fists of his, he could smash a hole even in a half-foot-thick city wall, yet Cheng Feng had only retreated a few steps.

He put away his contempt, urged his copper-colored True Qi once more, and pressed toward Cheng Feng, his fists bringing the wind.

Cheng Feng had nowhere left to retreat.

He heard the creaking of the hemp rope behind him pulling taut and knew that if he retreated any further, he would fall off the platform.

"Damn it, no more dodging."

The Blood Qi of the Dragon Snake Nine Transformations inside his body suddenly grew hot, like an enraged giant python coiling up from his dantian.

He tossed his blade aside and took a step forward.

"Come on! If you're a man, let's go head-to-head and see who's tougher, you or me!!!" Tong Shan roared, throwing a punch straight at his chest.

"Fine, then let's go!!!"

Cheng Feng had Qi in his chest, and he also threw a punch.

The two fists collided in mid-air, emitting a terrifying muffled sound, like two Iron Hammers smashing against each other.

"This guy's hard-body training must have reached perfection."

Cheng Feng felt sharp pain in his finger bones, and blood splashed out from between his knuckles.

Tong Shan was no better off; the layer of copper light on his knuckles was shaken, and several blood streaks cracked open beneath his skin.

Seeing that Cheng Feng had not fallen, Tong Shan found it somewhat unbelievable.

"Impossible, my Nine Rivers Copper Lock hard-body training—even the sect Elder said I had reached a level comparable to the Gang Qi Realm. You brat, this is impossible."

Tong Shan acted like a madman; the scene he had expected—where he would hit Cheng Feng and see his flesh and blood shatter—had not occurred.

Instead, he had fought to a draw.

Tong Shan's hard-body training, honed through years of bitter practice, was already famous, and compared to an unknown like Cheng Feng,

if he didn't win, that meant he lost!!!

The two men retreated half a step at the same time, then lunged forward at the same time.

Tong Shan did not believe it; he threw his fists with all his might, swearing to kill his enemy.

Second punch. Third punch. Fourth punch.

No dodging, no tricks, just body against body, bone against bone.

Punch after punch landed on flesh, blood droplets spraying out, impossible to tell whose was whose.

The spectators at the edge of the arena were silent for a moment, then, as if gone mad, several thousand people roared out at once.